Since assuming the presidency in July 2016, Bolton and her leadership team have begun
a thoughtful, inclusive strategic planning process that will steward Wooster’s core
strengths and commitments while charting a course forward.

Before Wooster

Prior to coming to Wooster, Bolton served for six years as dean of the college at
Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., a role in which she focused on ensuring that
all students thrive inside and outside the classroom. Working with colleagues across
many offices at the college, she brought together teams to build programs for first-generation
college students and to strengthen academic advising, academic resources, international
study, and first-year residential life, as well as to improve student safety.

Bolton came to Williams as an assistant professor of physics in 1995 and was promoted
to associate professor in 2001 and full professor in 2007. She served as chair of
the physics department from 2007 to 2010, and won the college’s Outstanding Mentor
Award for Fostering Inclusive Academic Excellence in 2009. She has advised a dozen
senior theses and more than 20 student research projects.

Her research explores the properties of novel, nanostructured materials, which have
features made up of only a few atomic layers. She uses lasers to measure the ways
that energy moves in these quantum mechanical systems.

Bolton earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and biophysics from Brown University
in 1988, a master’s degree in physics from the University of California at Berkeley
in 1991, and a doctorate in physics, also from Berkeley, in 1995.

Some thoughts on what sets Wooster apart

President Bolton releases statement on diversity and affirmative action

“On Tuesday, the federal Education and Justice Departments revoked several sets of
prior guidance regarding diversity and affirmative action. I have been asked whether
these revocations will alter our commitments to strengthening diversity, equity and
inclusion at Wooster. They will not. We will continue to pursue these commitments
with urgency, using the approaches we’ve developed together.” Read the full statement.

President Bolton on Wooster as an international campus

“In the wake of this week’s Supreme Court decision affirming presidential authority
to restrict immigration from certain countries, as well as the ongoing turmoil along
our southern border, I write to affirm the immense importance of internationality
at the College of Wooster, and to remind all international and immigrant members of
our community that you are welcome, and deeply valued, here.” Read the full statement.

A Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The College of Wooster has long held the understanding that students’ best opportunities
for learning take place when they study in a community that spans a wide range of
experiences, traditions, perspectives and beliefs. That commitment is embodied in
the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, adopted in 2017. You can read that plan here.